REPUBLICAN LAWMAKER CHALLENGES RICE’S OPPOSITION TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
armradio.am
25.10.2007 10:25
Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) today challenged Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice over the Administration’s efforts to press
legislators to oppose the Armenian Genocide Resolution, reported the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
Speaking during the Secretary’s appearance before the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, Rohrabacher, a senior Republican with a long
track-record championing human rights, explained his support for the
resolution, H.Res.106, noting that, "I think I speak for my colleagues
here, that this vote was a human rights vote and a recognition of a
violation human rights."
The panel, with the support of Rohrabacher and the Committee’s
Chairman, Tom Lantos (D-CA), approved this measure on October 10th
by a vote of 27 to 21.
The Secretary responded to the Congressman’s concerns, noting that:
"I recognize that it was a difficult vote for some who supported the
Administration’s position on this. There was a reason that we felt
very strongly that this resolution should not go forward. This is a
very delicate time with Turkey. It is a time when it is going through
a major transformation internally." She added, "We have extremely
important strategic interests with the Turks," and closed by saying
"I continue to believe that the passage of such a resolution as the
Armenian Genocide Resolution would severely harm our relationships."
"We can’t advance our interests by compromising our values," said ANCA
Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "Agreeing to a Turkish government
gag-rule on the Armenian Genocide only emboldens other nations to
use similar threats to silence America’s voice on a whole range of
human rights issues."
"The real threat here is to our international moral standing. Any
damage to US interests won’t come from passing a piece of human rights
legislation, but rather from caving in to foreign intimidation,
at the cost of our credibility and – in more practical terms – our
ability as a nation to shape international public opinion in support
of our foreign policy priorities."